AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 256, Issue 2 518-R522, Copyright © 1989 by American Physiological Society
Lack of caloric regulation in rats during short-term feeding
A. H. Swiergiel and M. Cabanac
Univeriste Claude Bernard, Oullins, France.
Rats were trained to feed 2 h daily. Each rat was presented during three
10-day-long alimentary periods with each of the following diets: control
(C), low calorie (L), and high calorie (H). The food was placed at an
ambient temperature of -15 degrees C at 16 m from a warm refuge. It was
found that the rats ingested similar amounts of food, regardless of energy
density of the diet, and therefore did not compensate for variations in the
caloric density of a diet. This was despite the recognition of a novel diet
on the first day of its presentation as manifested by a change in rats'
meal pattern. L diet was eaten slowly, suggesting that it was less
palatable than the C or H diets. The results suggest that the rat placed in
a closed economy with only short-term access to food imposed by a hostile
environment does not adjust its food intake in accordance with energy value
of the food. Its momentary food intake appears to be controlled by the
gustatory properties of the food.
